StructuredDream

OK, I admit I haven't seen UFO Hunters on the History Channel, but with the creationists trying to cripple teaching of evolution yesterday in Texas and today in Florida, I had just answered a post by Protsman with: "An inability to see the conflict between good science and having a magical, invisible friend probably indicts one's grasp of scientific knowledge more than a third party grouping one with creationists, IMO. We might excuse members of the reality-based community for failing to distinguish between what appear objectively to be various self-delusions that each believer claims as virtuous faith." Flipping over to check email, I received a request to "Tune into the History Channel on Wed April 1 to see David [a friend] wax poetically on the subject of possible Mayan "greys". Apparently, the episode is titled UFO HUNTERS "THE GREYS CONSPIRACY". Working out reliable (if fallible) systems for producing revolutionary science is hard enough...

It is recognized that the need for strong scope control during development of a practice standard extension for revolutionary science (ERS) derives from the application area environment, one of rapidly evolving and expanding knowledge regarding revolutionary science and scientific creativity . Controlling scope creep in such environments is a challenge, when incorporating new findings would increase the value of the ERS. Criteria At this project's most well-defined boundary lies the scope of scientific paradigm change applicable to the ERS, which rests on a criterion test for simultaneously meeting several clear constraints. These include meeting the requirements of science, offering cognitive advantages, and reclassifying exemplars of previously developed paradigms. Concepts resulting from using ERS processes, tools and techniques will adhere to the hierarchical principles of stable conceptual structures: non-overlap, exhaustion, and inclusion. ERS scope criteria acknowledge the...

Here is my take on SRI's Conficker C "evolving snapshot "… The highly-organized group that developed a most-advanced Windows virus running on 2K, XP, and Vista platforms is continuing their work. The result? A Conficker C variant, discovered by SRI International on March 6 th , uses the 2 x encryption and 2 x compaction security of A & B variants, adding "a significant layer of code obfuscation". C is such an upgrade that "as little as 15% of the original B code" remains, and these upgrades make the situation equivalent in WoW terms to millions of dragons running amok in villages with big fangs, impervious armor, and magical abilities to become invisible and render harmless any armies and weapons brought against them. SRI believes the current internet addressing system could become unreliable, but based on the details, I think that horse has left the barn. There is no way to prove whether SRI's report you and I see is actually what we expe...

New concepts in science result from the process of attempting to overcome specific problems, and Professor Nancy Nersessian's Creating Scientific Concepts (CSC) takes a process-focused approach, providing a gold mine of information for those interested in scientific and technological advance, or any of the many related specialty disciplines. The arguments made represent a critical milestone toward my goal: the development of a practice standard for managing creation of revolutionary science & technology paradigms, so I'm hardly a neutral reviewer. Nersessian explains the birth of new scientific understanding, some times in laser-sharp detail and at other times with a broad strokes, such as where issues arise from "the creative reasoning practices of scientists for which cognitive research is not yet sufficient to explain." CSC is an erudite, compelling journey through profound discoveries in physics not merely pointing to dates and useful discoveries, but actuall...

-baclyn- Hi Casey, Definitions and boundaries for terms and especially categories will fluctuate based on individuals sense of convenience, needs, focus and priority. Organizational definitions (such as standards) will tend to be more elaborate and precise. Different views and different levels of knowledge will alter meanings and usage between different indivituals, groups, & anything sufficiently related.

In response to a post by Ray Podder , I rehash the frustration with educated elites' lack of situational awareness regarding the basic nature of capitalist corporate organizational systems. To Ray: The reason these (your) questions arise the way they do is because of the spectacular success of corporate propaganda. Top-down authoritarian dominance (called "leadership" in MBA grad school), exploitation (minimizing cost), deceit and manipulation for profit (marketing), enforced scarcity (maximizing price), and unrestrained growth (increased market-share) are encoded in the corporate DNA - but with clever spin and massive investment in school textbook content, and outright ownership of text and mainstream media production, it is frighteningly easy to conceal such otherwise obvious truths. The amoral, predatory nature of capitalism - especially in the modern multinational corporate species - is one of those obvious truths recognized in the business community as vital to obscu...

Retweeting @NSF: Electronic Quantum Holography, Unbelievable!! http://ping.fm/VFcLU

Dryly glimpsing reality's profound beauty: a mirage of perceptions across deserts of limitation...we thirst for understanding. Echoes of creation's song seduce us in whispered perfume carried on a mistral's caress, stirring our most passionate ardor to know, to discover. We long to reach truth, to deeply drink pure knowledge as only the strongest intellect can. We ache for profound understanding with which we might swim through celestial depths and soar in abyssal heights with the grace of immortals, at the speed of thought. With impassioned inquiry, we woo the universe to surrender her mysteries, and with each embrace of truth we share, our minds touch that transcendent splendor of merging with the universe - and ourselves. Fidelity to science manifests our love of learning and devotion to truth.

How cognitive maps might harness brain structures for better learning: http://snurl.com/dhli9

Who Said Cheaters Never Win? http://cli.gs/sJp2eP

The lowdown on twitter: http://snurl.com/dh60n

Revolutionary Science PM Standard will help AAAS: http://is.gd/mxRv

In reply to a Wednesday, March 04, 2009 post that concerned me…describing the life context of a chess player. It is true that increased specialization without increasing general knowledge leads to people becoming more "just another brick in the wall". Clearly, to someone who is doing this in a large, for-profit multinational, it would seem like the rest of the world is doing the same, i.e.: one would be likely to assert this world view as "contrary to...[when] job descriptions in many cases were self defining and not standard." It is distressing to see the "free market" corporate worldview of TINA: "there is no alternative" and the capitalist doctrine of scarcity so deeply expressed. While acknowledging the virtues of motivation, industry, and self-improvement that this model embraces, in the desire for a more nuanced and better balanced view, I would assert that the internet and new media & communications, while requiring and enabling speci...